TITLE: Swollen AUTHOR: Erin M Blair E-MAIL: eblair@sonic.net DISTRIBUTION: OK to Gossamer, Ephemeral, MiJ, Mulder's Refuge. RATING: PG CATEGORIES: SRA -- Story, Romance, Angst. KEYWORDS: Mulder/Scully Romance. MulderTorture. SPOILERS: None. SETTING: Season Seven. DISCLAIMER: Mulder and Scully belong to Chris Carter. SUMMARY: Mulder's toe swelled up. Will Scully provide the tender loving care? *This story was written for the Golden Gurney Challenge for August at Mulder's Refuge.* ------------------------------------------------- Swollen by Erin M. Blair ------------------------------------------------ His toe was swollen and red like an apple. He had felt stupid and embarrassed at the way he climbed into the tub. He had accidently stubbed his toe on the faucet. He tried to clean his long, lanky body as quickly as he could before dealing with his swollen toe. He tried to put weight on it; the pain was shooting up through his body. He grimaced. He didn't know what to do. He methodically got dressed and tried to manuever out of the bathroom. "Scully, I need some help." She looked at his toe. "Mulder, did you stub your toe?" "Yeah -- on the faucet. I think I'll use the shower from now on," he said. He gritted his teeth. "Can you help me cover it up?" She nodded. "I will. Mulder, you need to sit down. I will get the moleskin, the bandages, and the ointment. You'll need to be careful for awhile." "Scully, you don't know how glad -- " "I know, Mulder." He gently sat down on the bed and watched her go get the medical kit. "I know it's just a simple swollen toe, but it hurts like hell." He watched her put on the antibiodic cream with pain relief. It helped lessen the pain somewhat, but it was still intense. She wrapped his toe with moleskin and then put a bandage on it. "I think you'll be all right, Mulder. You'll need to rest it for awhile." She looked into his hazel eyes and then gave him a small smile. "If the pain keeps up, you can take some asprin." He kissed her on her lush lips. "Thank you for taking care of me." "Always." -- the end -- Feedback: Yes, please. I always treasure feedback. Send to: eblair@sonic.net Author's Notes: I recently had a swollen toe that lasted for a week. It really hurt like hell. However, the only thing good about it was to provide me a story for Mulder's Refuge's The Golden Gurney Challenge. The theme was anything pertaining to the legs and feet. :) I enjoyed writing this story as always. It really helped me deal with the pain. I would like to thank everyone at Mulder's Refuge for their support. I would also like to thank Jen for beta reading this story for me.